Trans woman says bank froze her account because she ‘sounded like a man’

A transgender woman has said her bank account was frozen after call-handlers identified her as a man.

Sophia Reis said she was left “embarrassed” and had a nervous breakdown at work after she failed a security check on August 30.

The 46-year-old customer service adviser described the experience with Santander Bank as “the last straw” after claiming she had been discriminated against on a number of occasions in the past.

She said she had informed the bank in November last year that she would like to change her name from Sergio to Sophia.

But the bank froze her account as she failed to pass a security check, which meant she was not allowed to transfer £72 to a friend on her debit card.

Miss Reis told the Press Association this was not the first time she had faced difficulties - with shops banning her from entering at certain times because they did not want people “complaining that you are here”.

She claimed she had applied for more than 400 jobs in the space of eight weeks and had attended countless interviews but had no luck until her last interview - which she attended as a man.

Describing what happened when she complained to Santander, Miss Reis, of Carlton, Nottingham, said: “I went into the bank in Clumber Street and said, ‘You have got all my documentation and I changed my name on November 11.’

“They said my voice did not match my profile because it sounded like a man on the phone and not a woman.

“I was crying my eyes out and I am not that type of person at all. I am a very courteous person and I am outgoing but to feel that way when all I asked was for my money to be transferred - I feel mistreated.”